The Learning Success Blog

Should all primary school students be required to qualify for a “Social Media Licence”?

That’s the proposal prominent Australian child psychologist, Michael Carr- Gregg has made to the government.

His idea is the licence would be needed before a student could bring a digital device to school. Students would qualify for the licence by passing an on-line test with questions including privacy, cyber-bullying and how to spot a stranger online.

Are you a recent school leaver? Waiting for your results? Are you hoping for a university offer?

In my last article, How to Make Career Decisions at the End of Secondary School, I discussed a number of things Year 12 students needed to consider relating to their future. By their “future”, I’m not talking about the rest of their lives,but I certainly am talking about the next stage of their lives – that is, the next study stage, and the working stage to which that naturally leads.

So I’m looking at a period of time up to ten years out.

After the HSC exams and registering preferences with your tertiary admissions centre (UAC, VTAC, QTAC etc), it’s time to take a break. Hopefully, you have done, or are doing that.

How do young people, school leavers, and those who have completed post-secondary school education figure out what they want to do as a career? How do they succeed in the interviews for the job they want? And how can they learn some of the people skills to help them succeed in their workplace?

There is an interesting skill that may help. Internationally recognized facial profiling authority, Alan Stevens spoke to the Learning Capacity Podcast and discussed the course he has developed for school leavers transitioning to work. And he explains why the Pinocchio nose story may not be totally fictitious.

Can teachers use students' facial features to understand them and their learning styles better?

International profiling and communication specialist, Alan Stevens, says yes they can. Alan has developed a process he calls rapid trait profiling which enables people to make a fast personality and character assessment of others. He says large companies and organisations such as Disney Films have seen the benefits of clearer communication and understanding between people.

Alan spoke to The Learning Capacity Podcast about how rapid trait profiling is being used in many areas of life including education and parenting. He also discusses learnings from Australian Aboriginal lore, and taking up free fall Skydiving at the age of 50.

Learning support teacher, Moya Gibb-Smith has used most of the well-known remedial reading programs to help her students who were struggling to learn to read.

While she said they all had merit, there was one program that stood out for her. "It was like doing it on steroids. It was just so much quicker, so much more effective".

Moya described her journey from a young "reluctant teacher" to a passionate remedial reading teacher in an episode on The Learning Capacity Podcast. Listen to the podcast, or read the transcript of her story, which includes how her husband was "going a bit blue-mouldy" on the way.

Many senior secondary students around Australia are under considerable duress at this time of year. The Trials for the HSC, VCE and other State based credentials are over and students have received their results.

It is often the case that results are not as good as the students hope.

As a result, they sometimes feel dejected. It can be difficult to get motivated in these circumstances, but they have little or no choice. There is nothing they can do to change the past.

Pressures ......

There are other pressures. Schools, parents, peers, siblings, the media all bang on endlessly about “what course (and that invariably means what university course) are you going to do after you finish school?”

It takes a lot of guts, curiosity, time and effort to learn a language as an adult.

So, if you find yourself in this position, then hats off to you. Sometimes we have to learn a second language out of necessity.

For much of the non-English speaking world, that need is pretty clear. If you want to exist in the labor force just about anywhere these days, you’ll need to get comfortable with the Oxford English dictionary.

On other occasions, our desire to learn the lingo is born out of a desire to learn about the country, culture, or person we’re falling in love with.